After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent documentary series that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
